December 16
Events *755 - An Lushan revolted against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, beginning of the An Shi Rebellion during the Tang Dynasty of China. *1392 - Historku-cho - Emperor Go-Kameyama abdicates in favor of rival claimant Go-Komatsu. *1431 - Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris. *1497 - Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope, the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal. *1598 - Seven Year War: Battle of Noryang Point - The final battle of the Seven Year War is fought between the Korean and Japanese navies, resulting in a decisive Korean victory. *1653 - English Interregnum: The Protectorate - Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. *1689 - Convention Parliament: The Declaration of Right is embodied in the Bill of Rights. *1707 - Last recorded eruption of Fuji Mount in Japan. *1761 - Seven Years' War: After four-month siege, the Russians under Pyotr Rumyantsev take the Prussian fortress of Kolobrzeg. *1773 - American Revolution: Boston Tea Party - Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawks dump crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act. *1811 - The first two in a series of severe earthquakes occurs, in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri. *1838 - Battle of Blood River: Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius combat Zulu impis, led by Dambuza (Nzobo) and Ndlela kaSompisi in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. *1850 - History of New Zealand: The Charlotte-Jane and the Randolph bring the first of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton. *1864 - American Civil War: Franklin-Nashville Campaign - Battle of Nashville - Major General George H. Thomas's Union forces defeat Lieutenant General John Bell Hood's Confederate Army of Tennessee. *1893 - Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, "From The New World" was given its world premiere at Carnegie Hall. *1910 - During a ground test of his Coandă-1910 plane, Henri Coandă, caught unaware by the power of the engine, finds himself briefly airborne and loses control of the machine which crashes to the ground. *1922 - President of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz is assassinated by Eligiusz Niewiadomski at the Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw. *1925 - A regular broadcasting service was instituted in Ceylon. *1925 - Alpha Phi Omega national service fraternity was founded at Lafayette College. *1937 - Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from the American federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay; neither is ever seen again. *1941 - World War II: Japanese occupy Miri, Sarawak *1942 - Holocaust: Porajmos - Heinrich Himmler orders that Roma candidates for extermination should be deported to Auschwitz. *1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge - General Dwight D. Eisenhower's allied forces and Field Marshall Gerd von Rundstedt's German army engage in the Belgian Ardennes. *1946 - Léon Blum becomes Prime Minister of France. *1957 - Sir Feroz Khan Noon replaces Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar as Prime Minister of Pakistan. *1960 - 1960 New York air disaster: While approaching New York's Idlewild Airport, a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 collides with a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation in a blinding snowstorm over Staten Island, killing 134. *1971 - Bangladesh War of Independence & Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: The surrender of the Pakistan army simultaneously brings an end to both conflicts. * 1971 - Independence Day of the State of Bahrain from British Protectorate Status *1973 - O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills becomes the first NFL player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. *1985 - Mafia: In New York City, Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead on the orders of John Gotti, who assumes leadership of the Gambino family. *1986 - revolt in Kazakhstan against Communist party, known as Zheltoksan, which became the first signs of ethnic strife during Gorbachev's tenure *1989 - Protest breaks out in Timişoara in response to an attempt by the government to evict dissident Hungarian pastor, László Tőkés. *1991 - United Nations General Assembly: UN General Assembly Resolution 4686 revokes UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 after Israel makes revocation of resolution 3379 a condition of its participation in the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991. * 1991 - Independence of The Republic of Kazakhstan. *1998 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Operation Desert Fox - The United States and United Kingdom bomb targets in Iraq. Births *1485 - Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England (d. 1536) *1584 - John Selden, English jurist and oriental scholar (d. 1654) *1614 - Eberhard III (d. 1674) *1714 - George Whitefield, British-born Methodist leader (d. 1770) *1716 - Louis-Jules Mancini-Mazarini, French diplomat and writer (d. 1798) *1717 - Elizabeth Carter, British writer (d. 1806) *1742 - Gebhard Fürst Blücher von Wahlstatt, German Field Marshal (d. 1819) *1770 - Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (Is his supposed birthday, since he was baptized the following day it is believed his birthday is on the 16th.) (d. 1827) *1775 - Jane Austen, British writer (d. 1817) * 1775 - François-Adrien Boïeldieu, French composer (d. 1834) *1776 - Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German physicist (d. 1810) *1790 - King Léopold I of Belgium (d. 1865) *1804 - Viktor Bunyakovsky, Russian mathematician (d. 1889) *1834 - Léon Walras, French economist (d. 1910) *1861 - Antonio de La Gandara, French painter (d. 1917) *1863 - George Santayana, Spanish philosopher and writer (d. 1952) *1865 - Olavo Bilac, Brazilian poet (d. 1918) *1866 (N.S.) - Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born French abstract painter (d. 1944) *1867 - Amy Carmichael - missionary in Dohnavur, India (d. 1951) *1869 - Hristo Tatarchev - Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1952) *1872 - Anton Ivanovich Denikin, Russian general (d. 1947) *1882 - Sir Jack Hobbs, English test cricketer (d. 1963) * 1882 - Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer (d. 1967) * 1882 - Walther Meissner, German physicist (d. 1974) *1883 - Max Linder, French pioneer of silent film (d. 1925) *1888 - King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (d. 1934) * 1888 - Alphonse Juin, marshall of France (d. 1967) *1899 - Sir Noel Coward, British playwright, actor and composer (d. 1973) *1900 - V. S. Pritchett, British author and critic (d. 1997) *1901 - Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (d. 1978) *1902 - Rafael Alberti, Spanish poet (d. 1999) *1905 - Piet Hein, Danish mathematician and inventor (d. 1996) *1906 - Barbara Kent, Canadian actress *1917 - Nabi Bux Khan Baloch, Sindhi Scholar *1917 - Sir Arthur C. Clarke, British writer *1926 - James McCracken, American tenor (d. 1988) *1927 - Randall Garrett, American writer (d. 1987) *1928 - Philip K. Dick, American writer (d. 1982) *1929 - Nicholas Courtney, British actor *1932 - Rodion Shchedrin, Soviet-born Russian composer *1938 - Liv Ullmann, Norwegian actress *1941 - Lesley Stahl, American journalist *1943 - Steven Bochco, American television producer and writer * 1943 - Tony Hicks, British guitarist (The Hollies) *1945 - Bobby George, English professional darts player * 1945 - Yukio Hattori, Japanese Iron Chef commentator *1946 - Benny Andersson, Swedish musician, singer and songwriter (ABBA) * 1946 - Trevor Pinnock, British conductor and harpsichordist *1947 - Ben Cross, British actor * 1947 - Vincent Matthews, American sprinter and Olympic gold medalist *1949 - Billy Gibbons, American guitarist (ZZ Top) *1950 - Claudia Cohen, American gossip columnist and socialite (d. 2007) * 1950 - Roy Schuiten, Dutch cyclist (d. 2006) *1951 - Robben Ford, American guitarist *1952 - Joel Garner, Barbadian West Indies cricketer *1955 - Xander Berkeley, American actor * 1955 - Prince Lorenz of Belgium *1961 - Bill Hicks, American comedian (d. 1994) *1962 - William Perry, American football player *1963 - Benjamin Bratt, American actor * 1963 - Jeff Carson, American singer *1964 - Heike Drechsler, East German-born sprinter * 1964 - Billy Ripken, American baseball player *1965 - Chris Jones, American baseball player * 1965 - Melanie Sloan, American attorney * 1965 - Nancy Valen, American actress *1966 - Dennis Wise, English footballer *1966 - Clifford Robinson, American basketball player *1967 - Donovan Bailey, Jamaican-born Canadian sprinter * 1967 - Miranda Otto, Australian actress *1971 - Paul van Dyk, German Trance music DJ * 1971 - Michael McCary, American singer (Boyz II Men) *1972 - Charles Gipson, American baseball player * 1972 - Željko Kalac, Australian soccer player * 1972 - Angela Bloomfield, New Zealand actress *1973 - Scott Storch, Canadian-American hip-hop producer * 1973 - Themba Mnguni, South African footballer *1974 - Frida Hallgren, Swedish actress *1975 - Benjamin Kowalewicz, Canadian musician (Billy Talent) * 1975 - Nawo Kawakita, Japanese drummer (Maximum the Hormone) *1977 - Éric Bélanger, Canadian ice hockey player * 1977 - Sylvain Distin, French footballer *1978 - Gunter Van Handenhoven, Belgian footballer * 1978 - Kaine, American rapper (Ying Yang Twins) *1979 - Mihai Trăistariu, Romanian singer * 1979 - Jessie Ward, American professional wrestler * 1979- Flo-Rida American African rapper *1981 - Anna Sedokova, Ukrainian singer * 1981 - Took Leng How, Malaysian criminal * 1981 - Gareth Williams, Scottish footballer *1982 - Garnon Davies, Welsh actor *1983 - Kelenna Azubuike, English basketball player * 1983 - Danielle Lloyd, English model *1985 - Keita Tachibana, member of Japanese boy band w-inds. *1987 - Hallee Hirsh, American actress *1988 - Anna Popplewell, English actress *1989 - Chen Yaoye, Chinese professional Go player Deaths * 705 - Empress Wu of Zhou (b. 625) * 714 - Pippin of Herstal, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia * 867 - Eberhard of Friuli * 999 - Saint Adelaide of Italy (b. 931) *1325 - Charles of Valois, son of Philip III of France (b. 1270) *1378 - Otto III of Montferrat *1379 - John Fitzalan, Marshal of England *1470 - John II (b. 1425) *1515 - Afonso de Albuquerque Portuguese naval general (b. 1453) *1598 - Yi Sun-sin, Korean admiral (b. 1545) *1669 - Nathaniel Fiennes, English politician *1687 - William Petty, English scientist and philosopher (b. 1623) *1751 - Leopold II of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian general (b. 1700) *1765 - Peter Frederick Haldimand, Swiss military officer and surveyor *1774 - François Quesnay, French economist (b. 1694) *1783 - Johann A. Hasse, German composer (b. 1699) * 1783 - Sir William James British naval commander (b. 1720) *1809 - Antoine François, French chemist (b. 1755) *1859 - Wilhelm Grimm, German writer and folklorist (b. 1786) *1898 - Pavel Tretyakov, Russian businessman and art collector (b. 1832) *1914 - Ivan Zajc, Croatian composer (b. 1832) *1916 - Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (b. 1869) *1921 - Camille Saint-Saëns, French composer (b. 1835) *1922 - Gabriel Narutowicz, first President of Poland (b. 1865) *1928 - Elinor Wylie, American poet and writer (b. 1885) *1935 - Thelma Todd, American actress (b. 1905) *1940 - Billy Hamilton, MLB Hall of Fame Outfielder (b. 1866) *1945 - Giovanni Agnelli, Italian automobile manufacturer (b. 1866) * 1945 - Fumimaro Konoye, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1891) *1949 - Sidney Olcott, Canadian film director (b. 1873) *1956 - Nina Hamnett, British artist (b. 1890) *1965 - W. Somerset Maugham, British writer (b. 1874) *1976 - Réal Caouette, French Canadian politician (Social Credit Party of Canada) (b. 1917) *1977 - Risto Jarva, Finnish filmmaker (b. 1934) *1980 - Colonel Harland Sanders, American fast food entrepreneur (b. 1890) * 1980 - Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (b. 1900) *1982 - Colin Chapman, British engineer and automobile manufacturer, founder of Lotus Cars (b. 1928) *1984 - Debs Garms, baseball player (b. 1907) *1985 - Paul Castellano, American mafioso (b. 1915) * 1985 - Thomas Bilotti, American mafioso (b. 1940) *1988 - Sylvester James, American R&B singer, disco performer (b. 1948) *1989 - Lee Van Cleef, American actor (b. 1925) * 1989 - Aileen Pringle, American actress (b. 1895) * 1989 - Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (b. 1930) * 1989 - Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Argentine racing driver (b. 1913) *1990 - Douglas Campbell, American pilot (b. 1896) *1993 - Moses Gunn, American actor (b. 1929) * 1993 - Tanaka Kakuei, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1918) *1995 - Mariele Ventre, Italian choir director (b. 1939) * 1995 - Johnny Moss, American poker player (b. 1907) *1996 - Quentin Bell, British art historian (b. 1910) *1997 - Nicolette Larson, American singer (b. 1952) *1998 - William Gaddis, American writer (b. 1922) *2001 - Stuart Adamson, British musician (b. 1958) * 2001 - Stefan Heym, German author (b. 1913) *2003 - Robert Stanfield, Premier of Nova Scotia (b. 1914) * 2003 - Gary Stewart, American musician, singer and songwriter (b. 1945) *2004 - Ted Abernathy, American baseball player (b. 1933) *2005 - Kenneth Bulmer, British author (b. 1921) * 2005 - John Spencer, American actor (b. 1946) *2006 - Pnina Salzman, Israeli pianist (b. 1922) * 2006 - Taliep Petersen, South African singer and composer (b. 1950) * 2006 - Don Jardine, professional wrestler (b. 1940) Holidays and observances * Bahrain - National Day * Bangladesh - Victory Day * Kazakhstan - Independence Day * South Africa - Day of Reconciliation * Afrikaners (South Africa) - Day of the Vow * Mexico - First day of Las Posadas * Philippines - First day of Misa de Gallo * Adelaide of Italy External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- Category:December